The Civil Servant Who Concealed Their True Strength Turns Out to be a Master of Possession - Chapter 149

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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A Civil Servant Who Hides His Strength Is Exceptionally Good at Possession – Episode 149
“Oh, it’s been quite a while?”
I asked as Baek Hee-ryeong settled into the seat across from me.
‘This chair is incredibly plush.’
Of course it is—the Blue House…!
At my question, Baek Hee-ryeong smiled faintly.
Had I ever seen Baek Hee-ryeong before?
‘How could I not remember if I had?’
I wasn’t possessed—did Lee Yu-ji actually suffer from memory loss?
“Investigators with such passion for their work are rare. Of course, there may have been some I haven’t seen, but… there was one person like that before.”
Ah. So that’s what she meant.
But if it was an enthusiastic investigator I’d seen before—
“Could it be Captain Hong?”
“No. It’s not.”
Of course. It couldn’t be.
I smacked my lips.
“It was Team Leader Han Su-eop. I’d seen him once before. I’d asked him to investigate the guild lobbying.”
“…!”
I froze momentarily at those three syllables from Baek Hee-ryeong’s lips.
Han Su-eop.
It’s always that name.
I silently repeated the name of the man from whom I had once stolen Pee So-won’s eyes.
“But people like that always seem to meet unfortunate ends.”
Baek Hee-ryeong continued smiling faintly as she sipped her tea.
“An unfortunate end? What do you mean by that?”
I found myself asking in a low voice.
At my words, Baek Hee-ryeong lifted her gaze to look at me.
It wasn’t a mental-type skill like Choi Se-a used, yet her gaze somehow exuded an overwhelming pressure.
“I… don’t think one needs to call it an unfortunate end when someone makes the choice to do what they must… do.”
Even as I spoke, my voice seemed to diminish as the sentence drew to a close.
Conversing with a Tier 1 civil servant is incredibly difficult!
But my words were sincere.
Han Su-eop too—
My mother and father as well.
Their choices cannot be described merely as ‘unfortunate ends.’
Even though their choices remained incomplete, they held sufficient meaning.
“You hold quite dangerous thoughts.”
Baek Hee-ryeong spoke in an enigmatic tone.
A voice tinged with both bitterness and anger.
“If you fight the world, you’re bound to lose, aren’t you?”
“I’m not going to fight. I’m just going to investigate.”
At my words, Baek Hee-ryeong burst into laughter.
“Ah, that’s right. That’s your character.”
“Pardon?”
Ugh, why do these people keep mocking others’ personalities?
“And it seems the President fights with the world more than anyone else….”
Baek Hee-ryeong herself was the premier image of a warrior.
Ever since her days as opposition leader, she’d declared war on the Hunter Association and spearheaded all sorts of guild regulation legislation, earning her plenty of criticism.
“And you’ve won those fights with the world quite often…?”
Baek Hee-ryeong laughed again.
She laughed for a long while before regaining her composure and speaking.
“I haven’t won. Nothing has truly changed yet. There were countless opportunities, but—”
Baek Hee-ryeong’s expression grew cold.
“I’ve missed them every time.”
Baek Hee-ryeong’s voice dropped.
And it became as parched as a desert.
In that moment, I asked the question that had been troubling me.
Of course, conversing with a Tier 1 civil servant is terrifying! But I couldn’t just let this pass!
“Is one of those opportunities related to Han Su-eop the investigator?”
“What do you mean?”
“Kang Han-geul.”
As I spoke, Baek Hee-ryeong’s eyes changed.
“I thought it seemed like you’d planted special forces as black operatives long ago. I’m not sure if I have the right to make such a judgment, but… before you became President, before moving the special forces, it seemed clear you would have moved the Hunter Investigation Unit first.”
Is this… overstepping?
Am I allowed to say this?
Black operative deployment is classified information in the first place, and even if it was Baek Hee-ryeong’s orders, is it right to reveal it?
My mind was complicated, but I needed to know now.
If Captain Cha Jeon-hyeok had been Choi Jun-gu’s puppet all along.
If that connection went back further than I expected, further than the original work suggested—
Then Han Su-eop’s death could very well have been one of Choi Jun-gu’s misdeeds deleted from the original work.
And those words just now.
That there were countless opportunities, but she’d always missed them.
Back then, Han Su-eop must have possessed some definitive evidence too. Like Choi Se-a. So the reason he had to die—
“That’s correct.”
…?
She’s telling me this so directly?
“I requested assistance from investigator Han Su-eop. I’d received a report from a civic organization regarding Daeyang Guild’s lobbying activities.”
“What was that report….”
“It was a report that Daeyang Guild was tampering with the Hunter Investigation Unit’s equipment.”
As I thought.
Cha Jeon-hyeok is indeed connected to Han Su-eop’s death…!
“Then….”
I was about to ask what evidence Han Su-eop had uncovered.
Baek Hee-ryeong spoke as if she’d seen right through my question.
“However, Inspector Han Su-eop passed away before he could share that information with me. He was likely ‘taken care of.’ You know what those people are good at—moving ‘dots’ to create ‘lines,’ and arranging ‘planes’ to construct the board. Cha Jeon-hyeok probably doesn’t know much either. It’s possible Inspector Han Su-eop wasn’t merely holding information related to equipment.”
In other words, she was saying she didn’t know.
Damn.
I furrowed my brow.
“Would it be alright if I asked just one more question?”
“No.”
Baek Hee-ryeong answered firmly.
“Ugh…. Um…. Yes.”
Tch.
I’d been about to ask why she’d planted Kang Han-geul so deeply and for so long, and then went out of her way to plant me as well!
“It’s only fair that if one question comes in, one answer goes out, isn’t it?”
Baek Hee-ryeong said this with a faint smile returning to her face.
She rested both arms on the table as she would during diplomatic negotiations or a cabinet meeting.
Like an aggressive negotiator.
“Have you considered joining the Special Forces? If you’re willing, we could discuss many more things.”
Wow. Is she really negotiating information with me right now?
She’s asking me to join the Special Forces?
It suddenly struck me that everything so far had been bait from Baek Hee-ryeong.
Starting from when she casually dropped the story about Han Su-eop.
“If you join the Special Forces, I can better protect Inspector Lee Yu-ji. As you well know, Inspector Lee Yu-ji is currently a target of both the Daeyang Guild and the Hunter Association. Those people are crueler and more dangerous than you’d think. And Inspector Lee Yu-ji is far too well-known.”
I couldn’t deny it.
My face was already preserved in countless YouTube videos.
At this point, I’ve honestly given up.
Being called Taekwondo Girl L, or having fan cafes created that send sundae deliveries to the Hunter Investigation Unit—
‘How the hell did they even know I like sundae!’
And after that video of me riding on Slime went viral, they’ve been sending slime-shaped stress balls in bulk?
I’m grateful but also not grateful!
I furrowed my brow thinking of the stress balls piled high in the workshop and Kang Si-bang, who somehow gets stressed every time he sees them.
[I don’t look like that, you jerk!]
The more stressed he gets, the more he eats.
I’m the one who’s actually stressed.
‘My back’s bending from feeding Kang Si-bang, it really is.’
Between buying ginseng for Pee So-won and Kwon Ik-seong, I’ve burned through thousands just feeding Kang Si-bang.
Of course, the status window keeps depositing that sweet, illegal blood money into my account every time I complete a quest.
But since the real-name financial system started, it’s not easy to spend illegal funds like that!
And now comes a recruitment offer for the Special Forces.
‘My salary would skyrocket.’
…No, that’s not it!
“Why are you specifically recruiting me? As you know, my face is already well-known….”
“Don’t worry. I’m not planning to use you as a black operative.”
“Pardon? Then what?”
“A special promotion. You’ve made exceptional contributions in overcoming a national crisis, so there’s sufficient legal grounds.”
“A special promotion, you say…?”
“I’m considering a command-level promotion within the Special Forces. We’ll arrange it so you can exercise command authority over emergency situations—sudden dungeons appearing downtown, violent conduct by hunters, and the like.”
“…?”
What are they talking about?
So I’m….
Becoming a vice-director-level officer?
Wow…. This is….
“Um….”
They’re telling me to walk straight into the tiger’s den.
I haven’t even resolved the quests I already have, and I can practically hear the Quest window exploding from here.
Sudden dungeons?
That’s the perfect setup for the cliché where ‘extras the protagonist takes interest in die.’
“I appreciate the offer, but—”
“What if it’s not an offer, but an order?”
Just as I was about to politely decline, Baek Hee-ryeong looked directly at me.
“…!”
Ah, I see.
The tiger’s den wasn’t the Special Forces at all—it was right here.
And the tiger standing before me was Baek Hee-ryeong herself.
Damn it!

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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